A MEMBER of the elite al-Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has been captured in southern Afghanistan accused of cross-border weapons smuggling.
The man, described as a “key Taliban weapons facilitator”, was captured in Zhari district, Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, a volatile district targeted in recent coalition operations.
He was targeted “for facilitating the movement of weapons between Iran and Kandahar through Nimroz province,” a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said.
It is thought he was connected to smuggling small arms between the countries.
“The now-detained man was considered a Kandahar-based weapons facilitator with direct ties to other Taliban leaders in the province,” the ISAF spokesman added in a statement.
The news again spotlights the complex relationship between Afghanistan, Iran and the United States, whose troops make up roughly two-thirds of the coalition force that has been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan for nine years.
British newspaper The Times reported today that Iran has released a string of senior Al-Qa’ida militants from custody so they can help the network rebuild in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.
The newspaper quoted anonymous Pakistani and Middle Eastern officials accusing Iran of giving covert support to the Islamist militants, often through the Revolutionary Guards.
Be the first to comment